Friday, March 09, 2012

I'm warning you now, I may be talking a bit about hunters in the coming weeks. It's not because one is my Main, or that I currently have seven dotted about (four at L80 or above) either, thought this should give some indicator that I'm quite keen on them. I'm hoping, that come Cataclysm, I can legitimately play all three specs without a penalty, and the above statement from the Crawlermeister regarding BM pets makes me HOPE that finally it might not have to be about taking the best DPS spec to a raid.

There are those who will tell you Hunters are awesome regardless of the disparities between specs, and although I love all of the guys I play, I am well aware that speccing them all differently won't mean they all do comparable damage. This subject's become a bit of a Holy Grail since the game began, and there are days when I miss just having one spec to deal with... but they are few and far between. Hunter specs are now pretty much approaching that optimal point, what is now needed is the ability for everyone else not to just simply focus on raw damage and consider utility.

When you bring a tank to a raid, there are certain expectations, as is the case with healers. There appears to be two overriding criteria for damage dealers (at least in the places I frequent) and they are simple: the ability not to stand in s&!* and to do as much damage as possible. Utility is not an issue when it's only ten of you and everyone needs to be putting 25k into the boss. In 25 man, it should become acceptable for another player to provide a 5k boost so you can bring a pet that provides the raid a buff it doesn't have. I watched a LFR PuG-gee berating a BM hunter who pointed out their pet was providing utility earlier in the week, and that overall dps was more important than a utility buff. This is the attitude that needs to be addressed, and it's got nothing to do with theorycrafting and everything to do with player attitude. When someone asks in Trade 'What's the best dps spec for (insert class here)?' it shouldn't be bad to be able to reply 'it's not just about dps, it's about utility' This is a dangerous mindset we find ourselves in, and it's really about time it was addressed.

Part of the problem with needing huge numbers to kill bosses is, of course, wrapped around the Stat Inflation issue, and hopefully if we are to see a return to low numbers on gear the need for huge output may yet diminish. A lot of this is also likely to rotate around boss mechanics: Dragon Soul shows us that fights with complexity are here to stay, but there are also fights that require movement plus maximised damage output. What we now need (I think) are situations where (as a Hunter) I would be required to bring (let's say) two specs to a raid and be encouraged to actively switch between the two depending on the fight I was involved in. The default state is one spec and comfort in familiarity, of course, but as dps it might be an idea to start being pushed outside our comfort zones by specific encounters. If I could do that and a) not be carried by anyone else and b) give a positive contribution to a Raid then I think it's a situation that needs to be pushed and advocated. Maybe the days of saying to people 'play x spec' are over, and it should not simply be about one set of numbers. It should become fitting the right set of numbers to each specific fight.

WTB [Fresh Field], PST.

A lot of this then hinges on Blizzard sending the right cues to the player base via design. The last couple of weeks has seen the Devs going to great lengths to dissect what was right (and wrong) about the current content, and it seems to me that the ground could be being prepared for some significant changes. All I can hope is that this is the case, and that this mentality is taught to players from Level 1 onwards. If you come to the game to do damage, let it be about understanding what else you can provide in your role, not simply a number. Let utility be as important as your damage.

It's time for a change in attitude towards damage dealers, not just Hunters. Let's see if Mr G. Crawler Esq and his associates can bring that to the table next week... ^^

2 comments:

I think the changes to the talent trees coming in MoP will help a lot here, since they’re pretty much just about utility rather than “Your X ability does 5% more damage.”

I think part of the problem, at least from Blizzard’s point of view, is that if they design fights to require certain utility skills, groups that don’t have characters with those skills are out of luck – it goes againt the whole “bring the player not the class” ethos they’ve been promoting since Lich King.

Possibly one solution would be to give each DPS class/spec (this includes the likes of shadow priests and retribution paladins) a standard type of utility, e.g. a snare or stun. Or, perhaps they could design encounters that adapt to the composition of the group?

I like your idea of ‘booster’ classes – ones whose only role is to provide support for the rest of the group, e.g. providing buffs, restoring mana, putting debuffs on the boss, etc. I think, though, that the only way this could work in practice is if such a class was necessary even in 5-man dungeons, an addition to the tank/healer/DPS trinity. What would you call such a class? Booster? Enabler? I think LOTRO has something like this: Burglars, Captains and Lore-masters.

I think everyone should have the ability to act as support for everyone else. What is needed (IMO) is for DPS to be able to do more than simply turn up with a class that fills a hole and nothing else. If we're bringing the player, then that means certain people will be able to cover more bases. This means those who work hardest will see greater progression for their efforts, and that cannot be a bad thing.

I don't want it to be that those who are currently carried can continue to be so either. I'd like to see everyone have to put some actual effort into gaining a return...